U.S. unveils plan to punish Russians for election hack

The Obama administration has imposed sanctions against Russia's intelligence apparatus — including the expulsion of 35 diplomats — in retaliation for the alleged orchestration of hacking attacks designed to interfere in the presidential election.

The actions outlined Thursday afternoon also include:

Shutting down two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York, "used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes."

Sanctions against the Russian intelligence services GRU and FSB, high-ranking officers of the GRU, and three companies that allegedly provided support to the GRU's cyber operations

Releasing technical information about Russian cyber activity, "to help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia's global campaign of malicious cyber activities."

"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," President Obama said in a statement.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions."

In his statement, Obama said the U.S. had declared 35 Russian "intelligence operatives" persona non grata. The State Department said the 35 are diplomats "who were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status" and accused Russia of harassing U.S. displomats overseas.

There was no immediate response from Moscow. In anticipation of the announcement, Russia on Wednesday called the hacking allegations "misinformation" and "lies" and vowed to respond to any retribution.

"We can only add that if Washington takes new hostile steps, it will receive an answer," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.

"This applies to any actions against Russian diplomatic missions in the United States, which will immediately backfire at U.S. diplomats in Russia. The Obama administration probably does not care at all about the future of bilateral relations, but history will hardly forgive it for this après-nous-le-deluge attitude."

As NBC News first reported two weeks ago, U.S. intelligence officials believeRussian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in the alleged hacking campaign, and the CIA concluded the goal was to help elect Donald Trump by leaking emails that were embarrassing to Democrats.

Publicly, President Obama has blamed "the highest level" of the Russian government for the hacks, noting that "not much happens in Russia" without Putin giving the green light.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said this week that there is broad support for sanctions against Russian and even the Russian president.

"I predict there will be bipartisan sanctions coming that will hit Russia hard, particularly Putin as an individual," Graham told reporters in Riga, Latvia.

Russia has repeatedly denied involvement, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has denied that his site was being used by the Russian government when it published emails stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

The White House said the actions will go beyond those announced Thursday.

"We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized," Obama said in his statement.

The Cedar Falls Tigers are headed back to the Girls State Basketball Tournament for the 4th consecutive year, following a 62-40 victory over Dubuque Hempstead Wednesday night in a Class 5A Regional Final in Cedar Falls. The Tigers opened the game on a 9-0 run and never looked back. Cynthia Wolf led Cedar Falls with 14, while Kamryn Finley added 11. The victory pushed the CF season record to 22-1, as the Tigers hope to get back to the 5A Championship game. West Des Moines Valley be...More >>

The Cedar Falls Tigers are headed back to the Girls State Basketball Tournament for the 4th consecutive year, following a 62-40 victory over Dubuque Hempstead Wednesday night in a Class 5A Regional Final in Cedar Falls. The Tigers opened the game on a 9-0 run and never looked back. Cynthia Wolf led Cedar Falls with 14, while Kamryn Finley added 11. The victory pushed the CF season record to 22-1, as the Tigers hope to get back to the 5A Championship game. West Des Moines Valley be...More >>